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EA: Frostbite 2 was built for next gen consoles

EA General Manager Patrick Soderlund has to deal with pressure. Franchises such as Battlefield, Need for Speed and Dead Space are constantly expected to perform, and it's his job to ensure this happens.

Over the past year, Frostbite 2 has become one of gaming's most recognised engines. Speaking to Gamasutra, Soderlund underlined the importance of such tech.

"So I think tech, for me, is an enabler to do great things. And I think if you look at Battlefield 3 when we introduced the Frostbite 2 engine, all the things that we made in there were gameplay-driven or experience-driven; we didn't just make tech for the sake of making tech. We looked at Battlefield: Bad Company 1 and 2 and asked, "How do we take this to the next evolution -- what are the things that break the experience? And we identified certain pillars."

During the interview, Soderlund revealed Frostbite 2 was designed for the next gen, and represents the beginning of a "confident" output from EA.

"I'll be honest with you -- Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation. That's how we started it. We had that in mind and we said, "We're going to have to build something that can scale." It doesn't mean that what you see in Battlefield 3 is the end state. That's the beginning; that's where we start and then we go forward. But we have a tech base that makes me feel really confident in how we're positioned for what's going to come in the future."